


A Table for Three

by SophieAiba



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Polyamory, Threesome - F/F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28569912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieAiba/pseuds/SophieAiba
Summary: Edelgard has been friends--just friends--with Byleth since they were both kids, and she thought she would be fine with keeping it that way forever. But when her coworker Dorothea makes a move, Edelgard can't help but object. Dorothea gives her an ultimatum: confess her feelings to Byleth in a month, or Dorothea asks her out. But as she works with Dorothea on building up her courage, will Edelgard's feelings change?
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg, Dorothea Arnault/My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	A Table for Three

"All right sir, that's a large gingerbread latte and a cruller. Thank you, and have a great day!"

As soon as the customer was out of sight, Edelgard let her smile fall, and let out a sigh. All this cheerfulness just wasn't in her nature, and it exhausted her. Still it was good for her to get out of her shell a bit.

Since around middle school, Edelgard had had her life planned out. Be valedictorian in high school, graduate magna cum laude from an Ivy League school, and then work her way up to becoming a senator. Maybe even president, though she didn't want to be too unrealistic. She knew this would mean keeping her nose to the grindstone her entire life, so there was one more part to her plan: take a year off in between high school and college, and take a nice, low-stress job at a cozy little coffee shop, unwind and create some memories.

So far things were going pretty well. True, Edelgard had ended up only graduating _co_ -valedictorian, but she figured Yale wouldn't care that much, probably. As for her year off, the coffee shop she ended up getting a job in was less cozy and more..."vibrant" on days she was in a good mood, "irritating" on days she was not. Who would have thought so much hot pink and canary yellow could exist in one place? Still, she enjoyed her job, and she was good at it.

The front door's bell jingled, and Byleth stepped into the shop. She looked around, and when she spotted Edelgard her face lit up, and she waved. Edelgard waved back. The two of them had known each other since they were kids. Byleth was the other co-valedictorian alongside Edelgard. That hadn't been part of the plan, but in a strange way she was glad to share it with Byleth.

"Hey El," said Byleth breezily. "My usual, if you don't mind"

"Coming right up" said Edelgard.

As Edelgard got to work, Byleth sat at the bar across from her and watched her work. That always made Edelgard a little nervous, but a little happy as well.

"Heard from any fancy universities yet?" asked Byleth.

"Ugh, I don't want to even think about it" said Edelgard. "All the applications and cover letters I'm going to have to write."

Byleth smiled. "I don't see what you're so worried about. You'll be able to get into anywhere you want, no problem."

"I hope you're right," said Edelgard with a sigh. She put down Byleth's cheese danish and started working on her iced coffee. "You know, same goes for you. You're smart enough to get into any university you want."

"Maybe," said Byleth, loughing a little. "But I just don't think I have the same work ethic you do, El. I'll be satisfied going to our local university. But I'm sure you'll do well at Harvard or Yale, eh?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," said Edelgard. But she smiled to herself. She was happy to hear that, and she was especially happy to hear that from Byleth. She finished Byleth's coffe and handed it to her. Byleth took a sip.

"Excellent as always, El," said Byleth.

Edelgard looked away. "You flatter me. It's not like it's complicated or anything. I'm basically just turning the machine on" Still, Edelgard felt the color rushing to her face. For some reason Byleth unsettled her so easily her these days.

"Well, see you later," said Byleth, as she rose and left.

Edelgard spent the next few hours energized by Byleth's visit. The fact that Byleth came in every morning was one of the things Edelgard like about working here. As Byleth left, another customer came in, and Edelgard quickly got to work on his drink. She had not considered herself much of a people-person, but this job had gotten her to be a little more outgoing, a little more friendly. Byleth said she had noticed it, too, so it wasn't just Edelgard's imagination. It wasn't exactly what she had imagined, but everything about working here was practically perfect.

Well, there was one little thing...

"Edie!" said Dorothea in a singsong voice.

Dorothea entered, practically sparkling. All eyes in the room turned to look at her. All eyes except for Edelgard, who was trying her best to focus on the coffee she was making. Dorothea, undeterred, came right up to her as she put on her apron.

"I saw you helping that man when I came in." said Dorothea. "You did great! You've really gotten better at putting on a smile for the customers"

"I should hope so" said Edelgard. "I have been here two months longer than you, after all. It'd be disgraceful if I couldn't do a better job than you"

Dorothea grinned. "Well, being cheerful comes naturally to me. But I get the feeling it doesn't come so naturally to you."

"You're not wrong," said Edelgard.

Dorothea had been hired here a month ago to work the afternoon shift, and ever since the comfortable feeling the cafe gave Edelgard had slipped away, just a little bit. It wasn't that she disliked Dorothea. After all, who _could_ dislike Dorothea? She was sweet, friendly, outgoing, cheerful, kind of everyone. Edelgard's people skills may have been getting better, but she was nowhere close to Dorothea yet. She greeted every customer with what looked to Edelgard like a genuine smile, a smile that was like Dorothea was welcoming home a friend she hadn't seen in years. She had cutesy nicknames for all the regulars. She even _sang_ for customers sometimes. In short, she was, well, vibrant. Edelgard felt guilty that she couldn't bring herself to like Dorothea as much as Dorothea liked her--and everyone else. She just found the other girl a little overwhelming. Their personalities didn't quite mesh. Still, Edelgard would just have to get used to it. It's not like Dorothea was the worst person she would ever work with. She _would_ get used to it in good time, she was sure.

"Things been busy?" asked Dorothea.

"No," said Edelgard. "But we always seem to start getting more customers right when your shift starts."

As if the prove her right, the bell at the front door chimed.

"Hello, welcome to--" she said, and then looked up and paused, blinking in surprise.

"Hey El," said Byleth. "I was telling my boss about this place, and I told her I get her something good from here."

Bytleth glanced to Edelgard's left, and Edelgard, wondering what she was looking at, glanced to her left too. Dorothea was at her left, staring at Byleth openly, her eyes shining.

"Hello, welcome!" said Dorothea. " Happy to have you! What can we get you, sweetie?"

Byleth blinked in surprise at this enthusiastic greeting, quite different from Edelgard's. But she smiled sweetly and said, "Medium latte, no whip, please."

"Coming right up! I love what you've done with your hair, by the way."

"Oh, well, thank you? What I did with it was comb it."

Dorothea laughed, and Edelgard had to turn away lest her irritation show on her face.

"You're hair's nice too, Miss, uh..."

"Dorothea. No 'Miss' necessary for a sweetheart like you. Can I get your name? Just for your order, of course." Out of the corner of her eye Edelgard saw Dorothea give Byleth a playful wink. _I'm not listening I'm not listening I'm not listening_ , Edelgard told herself over and over, trying to busy herself with cleaning the espresso machine.

"Byleth"

"Byleth" Dorothea rolled the syllables around on her tongue. "Now, Byleth," she said, leaning over the counter, "we do have a new lemon-lime tart that I recommend. It might sound like it'd be too sour, but I assure you it's creamy and sweet, with just a little kick of tartness."

"Oh, well--everything all right, El?" asked Byleth.

"E-everything's fine," said Edelgard, realizing that she was scrubbing so hard the chrome finish on the machine was starting to come off. "Just, uh, a stubborn spot."

Byleth nodded and turned back to Dorothea. "If you recommend it, then I'll try it."

"Oh well, in that case, there is one more thing I'd recommend, just for you Byleth," Dorothea tore a piece of paper from a nearby notepad. "My num--"

"Dorothea!" said Edelgard. "I just remembered I have to talk with you in the back. Sorry Byleth. Caspar will be able to help you" Before Dorothea could object, Edelgard pulled her through the staff only door into the back.

"What's wrong, Edie?" asked Dorothea as Edelgard practically shoved her into one of the break room chairs. "That was a little rude to your friend back there, don't you think?"

"You were about to hit on Byleth, weren't you?" asked Edelgard, sitting down herself.

Dorothea grinned "Oh, that. No, no, I was _already_ hitting on her," said Dorothea. "I was about to give her my number."

Edelgard sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What exactly do you like about her?"

"What's not to like?" asked Dorothea. "She's sweet, cute, has a nice body."

Edelgard grimaced. "That's exactly what I was afraid of."

"Why, is something wrong with her?"

"No, not at all," said Edelgard. "But I want you to leave her alone"

Dorothea blinked. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Dorothea, you've been working here for a month, and in that time I've seen you hit on nineteen different people"

Dorothea shrugged. "We get a lot of cute customers, what can I say?"

"I just don't want you to treat Byleth like something you can use and throw away,"

"How rude" said Dorothea. "I'll have you know that I treated all my girlfriends and boyfriends with love and respect."

"If you say so," said Edelgard skeptically. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. She's not like that, so you're wasting your time"

"Not like 'that?'" asked Dorothea. "Like what?"

"She doesn't like women," said Edelgard.

"Doesn't she? I don't know, it sure seemed like she was open to me. I wouldn't say I made her fall in love at first sight or anything, but..."

Edelgard looked away so that Dorothea could not see her face. "No, she's not." she said. "If she was, then..."

Dorothea, craned her head to see Edelgard's face. She blinked, and the her face melted into a knowing smirk. "I see, I see,"

"What?" asked Edelgard.

"Well now, I can understand being protective of someone as cute as Byleth, but I don't think it's fair for you to try to monopolize her when you won't even tell her your own feelings, is it?"

"Wh-what?!" asked Edelgard frantically. She started to blush so hard her cheeks were stinging. "No, it's...it's not like that!"

"No? Then it's all right for me and Byleth to date, right?" She started to stand. "In fact, I'm going to go back out there right now and--"

"No!" Edelgard said, grabbing for Dorothea's sleeve. Dorothea pulled away quickly and smirked.

"There, you see?" she said.

Edelgard twisted around in her chair and buried her face in her hands.

"So, how long have you liked her?" asked Dorothea.

"...As long as I've known her," said Edelgard, her voice muffled by her hands.

"And how long has that been"

"Since we were both kids. Eight...no, nine years."

"That long?" asked Dorothea. "And you haven't said anything to her?"

Edelgard shook her head, turning back to Dorothea. "There's no way she could like me back," she said. "And our friendship is too important for me to risk like that"

"Well, I can understand that" said Dorothea. "But then it's not fair for you to keep other people from dating her, is it?"

Edelgard said nothing.

"Hmmm..." Dorothea looked thoughtful for a moment, and then smiled. "Well, on the one hand, all's fair in love and war as they say. But on the other hand, I would never be one to want to get in the way of a childhood crush blossoming into true. So!" she clapped her hands together. "I'll make you a deal. I'll hold off on on asking her out for....let's say a month. If you confess your feelings in that time, and she accepts, then I will graciously admit defeat. But if you can't work up the courage, or you ask her out and she rejects you, then I'm going to ask her out, and you can't interfere. Deal?"

"B-but...." Edelgard scrunched forward, squeezing her hands together. "I don't know how I could possibly do that..."

"No worries," said Dorothea. "I'll help you out. Trust me, I'll teach you everything you need to know to charm the pants right off of Byleth!"

"But..."

"What now?"

"Well, first of all, aren't we rivals?" asked Edelgard.

"Now, now, it's not like that" said Dorothea, waving her hand. "I told you, if it were like that I'd just ask Byleth out right now. But I just can't bear to see a cute girl like you sad."

Edelgard was weirdly glad that she couldn't blush more than she already was. "...All right," she said. "But still, I don't know if your...style really fits me. You're a lot more..." Edelgard searched for the right word. "Forward? Than I am."

Dorothea grinned. "That's right. Love is a battlefield, and you can't win by retreating before the battle's even gone. Don't worry, they'll be calling you the Napoleon of Hearts before I'm through with you"

 _But Napoleon lost_ , thought Edelgard. But she decided voicing that thought probably wouldn't be helpful right now. "All right. I suppose I don't have anything to lose."


End file.
